Purpose of life || Acharya Prashant, with youth (2014)
Question: I want to know, do we really have a purpose in life? Like, some people find their passion and that becomes their purpose in life. So, I want to know if there is a purpose. And if there is, then how can we find it?
Acharya Prashant: Is that not related to the discussion on goals?
Listener: No, but then goals are something that you’re told. Like, you should get this much salary. You should do this, you should be like any; I don’t know what I want to do. So can I find that or is there nothing like that?
AP: Is there a difference between purpose and goal?
L: Yes.
AP: What is the difference?
L: Goal is something you achieve, about this is something that you worth want. It is your want.
AP: You want to what?
L: You want to work on it.
AP: So that?
L: So that you’ll be happy or you enjoy life and do what you want to do.
AP: So that’s the purpose of life, enjoy (smiling).
See, you already have clarity. If goals are about achieving and purpose is not about achieving rather than living it, enjoying it, then that is the purpose. Live it fully. Don’t let a nanosecond slip in inattention. That’s the magic of life. That’s the shield and peace of life. Live it fully and you can live fully only when you don’t bother for security. When you are not constrained by past and traditions. When you are not afraid.
If you are afraid, you can’t live.
Do you know why you are here?
You are here just to ‘be’, to express your core. That’s it, simple. I am, I express. I am, I express. You won’t be able to express if there are rules, and expectations, and ideals, and hopes, and burdens that you have put upon yourself. You won’t be able to dance. And remember, enjoyment is not entertainment. Enjoyment is not titillation.
I’m not saying that life is a party of the kind that you people know. Life is a party, it’s a 24-hour party, but it is a very subtle, a very deep and a very very intoxicating party. It doesn’t require you to make arrangements. Life is a party all the time, where you are.
So, if one of you is really alive and if he is asked, “What are you doing here at this point?” He’ll say “I’m partying.” That’s enjoyment. Wherever I’m, I’m partying. That’s enjoyment. Studying, I’m partying. In silence, I’m partying. Alone, I’m partying. With people, I’m partying. Running, I’m partying.
The party is within me. I carry it within me, wherever I go. I don’t walk into a party, I carry my party to any place that I go. That’s the purpose of life.
Have that continuous celebration ringing within. Party, party, party and remember that is again I am saying, that’s not happiness. That’s not entertainment. That’s not pleasure. That continuous celebration within is very subtle and very deep and equally simple. I’m light, joyful, carrying it within. Situations can’t change it. I don’t need 10,000 watts of music to dance. I’m dancing all the time.
You might think that I am just walking, I am actually dancing. You might think that I am sitting in silence, I am actually singing. That’s the purpose of life.
